The Fuzz
by JuniperLemon
Summary: Detectives Rogers and Stark don't exactly get along until they're forced together for a case. Love ensues.
1. Chapter 1

"Detectives Rogers and Stark, you team up to stake out the drug-lord Stark has been tracing." Fury barked out from the podium in the meeting room. The two detectives glanced across the room at each other sceptically; while each of them had been working in the New York police precinct for some time, they had never been given many assignments together as the majority of the team assumed their personalities would conflict. This was assumed correctly.

It was when the meeting had been dismissed and the team disbanded that both Stark and Rogers, acting independently, approached Captain Fury. They glared at each other as though they had claimed the time after the meeting to talk with Fury for themselves.

"What is it?" The Captain snapped, his remaining eye peering between his two employees.

The detectives glanced back and forth to see who would have enough guts to complain in front of the other. Eventually, Steve couldn't risk Stark painting him in a bad light so intervened first.

"Is it really a good idea to put me and Stark together on this one? I heard Romanov had something she wanted help with and I really feel I'd be more suited for that."

Tony joined in, nodding vigorously, "Clint was saying he'd just finished a case so I'm sure-"

Fury didn't have time for their petty bickering so interrupted, "I put you two together for a reason so stop complaining and do your damn jobs!" On that he turned and marched out of the meeting room to his office across the main room where all their desks were arranged. This left Steve and Tony standing p beside each other peering at the ground awkwardly. Their eyes met as they both began scanning the other.

"Well, I feel that went well." Tony grimaced before shuffling around the larger detective and heading for the door. Steve, on the other hand, just continued peering at the floor in disappointment.

* * *

Steve was rummaging through some old case files in the old data room, where they stored stacks of boxes full of old cases, and working through some negative feelings when he jumped at the sudden presence of another voice. In the surprise, he dropped the box of files on the floor, scattering the papers everywhere. He tried to grab the fluttering sheets helplessly before they got strewn too far.

"So, I heard you're stuck with Tony." Natasha popped up from seemingly nowhere. Steve didn't even hear the door open. He often considered how her stealth was wasted on detective work.

"You were in the briefing with us, Nat. Of course you know." He sighed, turning his back to lean against the towers of dusty boxes. He didn't even care that the dust would leave a mark on his freshly ironed shirt.

"Bet you weren't impressed." She smirked as she crossed her arms and stuck out her hip. Her red hair moved slightly in the breeze of the old fan that Steve had propped up on a wonky shelf. He would comment on the way it made her look like someone from a shampoo commercial but he wasn't quite sure if their friendship had exceeded that boundary yet. She was hard to read.

"I just don't feel like Stark takes it seriously… at all. He's always cracking jokes when he's supposed to be working and messing with people. That's without mentioning how he flirts with everything that moves!"

She leant her head, "He can't do all of those things and still be a good detective?" She challeneged, "Besides, he's never flirted with me."

"Aw, shucks. I should have known you'd side with him." With a sigh he pushed off the boxes and knelt down to begin clearing up his mess until Natasha placed her boot on a document he was collecting up.

"No, Steve. I'm just saying maybe you should give him a chance instead of jumping to conclusions. After all, you haven't even worked on a case with him before." After she saw her message was sinking in she lifted her foot and stepped back. "Anyways, hiding in this dingy file room won't help anyone. It's dusty and stinks of damp."

Rogers conceded to her point and agreed to leave after he'd tidied up the mess. He moved slowly to increase the time before he'd actually have to come face-to-face with the other detective. Even if he was destined to work with the man it didn't mean he had to be enthusiastic about the prospect. Finally, after what must have been an age he brushed the dust off himself and stepped out of the data room begrudgingly.

"Ah, detective Rogers. I've got the case set up on the board, if you're ready?" Tony said with a raised eyebrow as the other man approached him. There was a couple of seconds of them just peering at each other with a slight disdain before the other man responded.

"Of course, let me just grab my notebook." He said to gain some more time.

However, he couldn't put it off forever and was sat in the meeting room staring at Stark's case board before he could even blink. Images of the drug lord and statements from witnesses were taped up and linked together. Steve was gazing off into the distance when he was addressed.

"Have as many sexual fantasies as you want at home, Rogers. I know I'm just too damned gorgeous but for now can you focus?" Tony mocked effectively snapping the detective out of his own head.

"I-I… I wasn't!" Steve stuttered as his face grew increasingly beetroot coloured. Maybe he was thinking about Stark but that was only out of complete boredom! He hunched over is notebook as a scowl curled across his lips.

Tony stepped away from the board and squared his shoulder in front of where Steve was sitting, "Look, Mr Perfect. I know this isn't your case but if you could take your head out of your ass for once, that'd be great! The rest of us have cases too." He folded his arms and mentally prepared himself for the backlash.

Rogers blinked and slowly rose from his seat with his arms placed defiantly on the desk in front of him; the pose made the muscles in his shoulders and upper arms stand out. His chair squealed along the tiled floor as he moved it back with his legs. The detective peered into the other's eyes.

"If you would take your job seriously then neither of us would be in this position of me babysitting you in the first place!" Growling, he managed to enunciate through gritted teeth.

"Are you trying to say I can't do my job properly?"

* * *

It wasn't clear to the other colleagues in the precinct which man started the fight but all they knew was 10 minutes after Rogers had been called into the briefing room both men were on the floor wrestling out their differences. Unfortunately, neither man heard Captain Fury storming into the room until he made his presence known. The other detectives in the office pretended to be oblivious to the event but secretly a few of them had just won an office bet: Rogers and Stark would fight before the month was up.

"What do you think you're doing?" He snapped, clearing using what restraint he had left to prevent himself from cussing out both men. His eye was nearly popping out of its socket in anger.

Both men scrambled to pull themselves off the floor and justify their actions but the captain wasn't having any of their nonsense today. He raised his hands to silence them and with his mouth in a scowl pronounced,

"Do you know why I paired you, detectives? It's because you are the best detectives we have in this precinct and putting you together will mean that we solve more crimes and faster which is, in case you forgot, your job! And God knows we need our arrest numbers up this month. So, you will work together without another word of complaint. Understood?"

The scolded men nodded like guilty children and hurried off to their desk without a backward glance. If they had looked back they would have seen Fury shaking his head in utter exasperation.


	2. Chapter 2

-The next night-

The car was silent as even the wind had died down as though mocking their inability to hold conversation. Only the rise and fall of their breathing even proved that they were still alive. Shadows shrouded the car making it harder for their suspect to spot them in their stakeout spot. Steve fiddled with a case file on his lap as a way to dispel nervous energy. Every few minutes Tony glanced across at the other detective's moving fingers and would open his mouth to make a snide comment before having to begrudgingly stop himself. Fury's lecture was still spinning around his head reminding him that they'd be working together for the next few weeks until they close up this file so at least some civility would have to suffice.

Suddenly, the taller man's fingers froze and he moved his head slightly to the left as though to observe Tony through his peripheral vision. Like a goldfish, he opened and closed his mouth several times before the fully phrased sentence tumbled out with less grace than usual.

"D'you think Captain Fury was serious when he said we are the team's best detectives?" His voice was low and tense. The opinion of his Captain had always meant a lot to him; a habit which had stuck from his military days. It didn't help that he was hoping to become a Captain someday too.

"I mean… I clearly am. I can't speak for yo-"

"Stark!" Steve snapped, Tony turning everything into a joke or an opportunity to make a jab was one of Steve's greatest pet peeves about the other detective. H crossed his arms and leant back further into his seat.

"Fine. Yes, I'm pretty sure he meant it considering how if you put our arrest numbers together it's higher than the rest of the team's put together… But you're still a couple behind me, for the record." He added the second bit afterwards as though it was merely an afterthought and not something constantly spinning around his mind; Steve was always doing better so Tony would jump and any evidence which proved they were equals.

"Grow up will you, Stark." Steve huffed, wishing he had never brought up a subject which allowed Stark to go on a boasting spree. As if his ego needed boosting any more.

"Wait, shut up!"

"Excuse you?!"

"No seriously, look." Stark pointed in the direction of the bar they were scouting out. They both watched as the old man with white hair spoke the secret entry password and entered the bar. They shared a look before jumping out of the car and running as fast as they could after the man.

Steve kicked down the door, sending it reeling back into the wall, and they shot inside both shouting, "NYPD! Stay where you are and drop your weapons!"

The old man tried to run but Steve was quickly on his tail. A thug aimed for Steve to stop his pursuit but Tony shot at his arm causing the man to drop the gun. This allowed the taller detective to grab the drug lord and handcuff him in mere seconds. Once the commotion was over the two boys peered around the bar and suddenly Stark scoffed a laugh.

"Hey look, Rogers. Looks like there's no shortage of evidence after all."

Steve frowned but it transformed into a slight smile as he followed Tony's gesture to the piles of cocaine and drug money stacked up on a table. Some of it was scattered on the floor from the raid but there was certainly hundreds of thousands of dollars strewn around the area.

They met eyes and smirked, "Looks as though you're right, Stark."

It was over an hour later when the last criminal had been taken off the scene in the police van and the injured thug had been transported to hospital. Rogers and Stark were left behind and began making their way over to the unmarked police car they'd been staking out in. It was once they got there that Steve spoke.

"I really appreciate what you did back there, Stark."

The older man leant against the door of the car with a soft look on his features, "You're my partner. It's my job."

"Yes, that might be the case but you could have just saved my life so… Thank you, Tony." He admitted rubbing the back of his neck. He believed in giving people recognition when that recognition was deserved even if the individual was pretty much insufferable.

The other detective acted flirty and put on doe eyes, "Did you just call me 'Tony'? You've never actually called me by my first name. Does this mean we're official? Wait, on the marriage certificate are we going for my last name or yours because quite frankly Mr Stark-Rogers is obscene." He didn't want to try and figure out how he knew Steve had never used his first name but hearing him say 'Tony' felt right.

Steve shot him a look that read 'Don't push it' with a raised eyebrow before turning and strolling off in the opposite direction, "Goodnight, Detective Stark."

"Wait! Is that a break up?" He shouted after the man, raising his voice to ensure the leaving man could still hear him. His arch-nemesis just addressed him by his name and he wasn't about to let that be ignored, "I'll just set my Facebook profile to 'it's complicated'! ... Yeah? Steve?" It was only when he turned to get into the car that he realised he'd driven them both there, "Do you not want a lift?" After a few moments of silence he murmured to himself, "Okay, a clean break. I totally get it."

He smiled in the direction of his colleague's retreating figure and shook his head with a newly developed fondness.

* * *

A couple of mornings later, Tony was actually on time for the first time in his entire career. He sat at his desk waiting for praise from his co-workers. Despite this, they ignored him in an attempt to deflate his over-inflated ego. He crossed his arms and pouted in defiance.

He spotted the moment Steve slunk into the precinct and couldn't help but grin at the fact that he had beaten the man into work for the first time, "Ah! Rogers, I have the file for that arrest we did the other night. I need you to sign it for me." He watched closely as the man dumped his bag by his desk and dragged his feet across the room to Stark's desk. He signed lazily which was unusual for the tall and obsessive man.

"Late night?" He hypothesised out loud, to which Steve gave him a half-nod half-shrug.

Minutes later, Stark was still trying, unsuccessfully, to extract information from Steve about his late night antics. However, he was secretly sure the man probably just got too engrossed in searching for mistakes in the crossword puzzle until 2am… it had happened before. They both jumped as Fury's office door was thrown open, threatening to smash the glass panelling, and the man marched out with a look of utter rage carved into his face.

"THE BREIFING ROOM… NOW!"


	3. Chapter 3

The detectives and staff at the precinct were cowering in the briefing room despite the majority of them being completely innocent; some of them had never even watched online movies illegally. They were all more than aware that any second now Captain Fury would storm through that door and release his wrath of holy thunder upon their heads. Tony and Stark shared a look from across the room as even their rivalry couldn't withstand this kind of tension. Any kind of solidarity was positive.

"WHICH MOTHERFUCKING ASS LEAKED THE PROGRESS OF THE JENSEN CASE?!" The captain's voice echoed into the room milliseconds before he kicked the door open and strode inside. He slammed his fist down onto the podium and peered around the room, his eye resting on each employee in turn. The accusation was placed against each and every individual in that room without exception, "Let's start with Stark and Rogers since they were the primary detectives on this case. So, gentlemen?"

While Steve was floundering with his words Tony stepped forward and filled in his whereabouts. There was an easy alibi to excuse him from being interrogated. Meanwhile, Steve got redder in the face and began shifting on the spot.

"I was with Barton all night," Tony gestured across to the shorter detective, "He needed help on a stakeout and since me and Rogers weren't making much progress on the Jensen case I offered."

"I was with him all night." Clint chimed in with a nod at Stark.

"Checks out," Hill was typing furiously at her tablet, "He would have been with Barton at 11:48pm when the information was leaked to the press." Tony smiled at her gratefully.

"Steve?" Fury asked without much conviction. Rogers was the best detective they had in New York and twice as dedicated than any other officer. The idea of him actually leaking information to anyne was practically laughable. In fact, some staff at the back were stifling a chuckle at the thought of Steve doing anything that wasn't 100% by the book.

Tony saw the tall blond stumbling to talk so stepped in to defend the man. He didn't know why he felt the need to help him but something in his core pulled him to intervene, "C'mon, Captain. We all know goodie two shoes would never-"

"Silence, Stark. We need Rogers' statement."

Flushed as a beetroot, Steve opened and closed his mouth several times in a display of hesitation that nobody had ever seen from the man. A slight wave of doubt accompanied the raising chatter of rumors as people, for the first time, had to consider that Steve Rogers may have not kept information prevalent to the case confidential. For the first time, people hypothesised that there may be more to the man than first assumed.

"It-It wasn't me." The man declared in an attempt to fix the damage done to his rapidly decreasing reputation. "I didn't do anything."

"There, the man said it." Tony said, raising an eyebrow at his Captain. He still couldn't figure out why he was again sticking up for Rogers so much since they had only partnered up once.

"Shut up, Stark. Where were you, Rogers?"

He released one last exhausted sigh before looking squarely at Captain Fury to block out the reaction of all his colleagues and friends. His tongue was clumsy as though his body was fighting him to prevent him making this revelation, "On the night in question I was at a friend's house… all night."

"Doing what? What does your 'friend' do?"

If his face could get any warmer they'd be able to turn off the building's heat and instead warm the office from his cheeks alone, "Me and this man… engaged in sexual relations."

Every single head in the briefing room snapped around to stare at the confessing detective. It may not have been a confession over the leaked information but it certainly was a nugget of information that many of the employees in the room found more interesting. Under the weight if their gaze Steve lowered his head so his gaze could follow the gaps in between the tiles. He wasn't ready to see the judgement in their eyes. He thought he already knew what he'd see: disappointment and disgust at the precinct's most successful detective being homosexual.

"And can this individual confirm your whereabouts and lack of contact with the media?" Fury asked, his disposition unchanged and his tone unflinching. This caused Steve's gaze to shoot up in a mix of surprise and confusion, "Well? Can he?"

"I believe so, Sir." Rogers responded gratefully. He always forgot that in this day and age it was no longer a character fault to be a gay man anymore. The other detectives and staff would undoubtedly follow Captain Fury's lead of acceptance and support.

"Very well then… I'll go and contact this man."

As everyone slipped out the room Steve couldn't help the small smile that grew across his face.

* * *

Steve was low-key hiding in the evidence room when he heard the door open and a couple of people walk in. He ducked down behind the shelves in order to avoid confrontation; he had only revealed his sexuality mere hours ago and, despite a majority of support, the large man still feared the backlash of such an announcement. He listened carefully to the conversation as many people came to the room in order to get some privacy for secret conversations. Steve only prayed the individuals were not about to start gossiping about him.

"Tony!" A voice hissed in a whisper, "Did you know about it?"

"About Rogers? No, of course not." Stark defended himself against Clint's questioning.

Steve frowned and slowed his breathing to avoid detection. Whatever they were about to say about him he was emotionally ready. He steeled himself in case he would have to jump up and defend himself like he had done countless times in his life.

"Oh, I just thought because…"

Without being able to see, Steve already knew the dark haired man was rolling his eyes, "Yeah, I know… but just because I'm pretty open about my sexuality doesn't mean I know everyone else's business. It's such a stereotype that all non-straight people know each other!"

"Hey! Look, I'm sorry. Just… Everyone knows you've got with every person within a 20 mile radius of your apartment…" Clint justified with a semi-apology in his eyes.

"25, actually… but not Steve. I had no idea he liked guys. We've never had the kind of relationship where we sit and talk about our sex lives." There wasn't really need for him to explain his awkward relationship with the other detective. From day one, Steve and Tony had never seen eye to eye. Steve was silently nodding along to that statement, "Actually, we've never really talked about anything outside of a case. I barely know him."

The men wrapped up their conversation and left the room leaving Steve ducking out of sight. Slowly he rose and clicked his back from the awkward angle. He sighed and continued sifting through the files he had been browsing. He knew Detective Stark had a reputation for sleeping around and being a ladies man but he didn't realise he liked men too. Steve worried that it was because people viewed him as being old fashioned and conservative that prevented Stark from divulging this. He always felt out of the loop when they all did fun things or hung out together. He was always unaware of them doing things until he saw them posting about it on social media during the night. Even though he only had a close relationship with Natasha he wished they included him more. The thought that his team didn't actually like him broke his heart slightly.

He shook himself out of his pity party and tried to regain control over his emotions. They were only colleagues after all and what did their opinion of him matter anyway?

The large man snapped the folder shut, slipped it under his arm and marched out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

-Later that night-

It was happening again. He had been sat reading over a case file after dinner when he happened to check his social media only to find the majority of the office had embarked out for drinks after work without him. He'd already quashed the feeling of isolation and abandonment once today so another time wasn't about to happen. Steve was a strong person but even the strongest of men could only handle so much social exclusion. He snapped the file shut and placed his face into his hands, rubbing his skin vigorously.

"Right," He spoke to the empty apartment; his voice echoed throughout the dark rooms, "If they won't invite me then I'll just have to make fun for myself."

He rushed to his room and threw on his usual 'going out' outfit that actually rarely got used and prepared himself for a night in the town. It felt strange heading out on his own as Bucky had accompanied him the last few times but Barnes was on active duty again now so Steve was without a companion. He tried to ignore the seed of anxiety that was planted in his stomach at the idea of being alone in a club or bar as he didn't want to seem like the lonely weirdo out looking for friends.

His muscles were accentuated by the tight shirt he wore. Steve wasn't vain by any means but Bucky always told him to wear it when heading out and Steve trusted his best friend's opinion. The less said about his tight, tight jeans the better. He grabbed his trusty, faded leather jacket and keys before slipping out the door. Slamming, it felt like a solid certainty which he couldn't take back.

Steve was about to prove that he could have fun too, without them, even if the only person he was proving it to happened to be himself.

He jumped in a cab and was at West's in only a matter of minutes; not long enough for him to chicken out of attending a gay club alone anyways. He peered up at the bright, neon sign for a moment, the music could be heard from outside, before taking a breath and stepping inside. He pushed to the bar in order to find something that would halt the anxious feeling in his stomach.

He had only just received his drink when a figure appeared beside him. Usually he would wave off anyone approaching him when he had only just arrived but tonight he felt like letting loose and didn't want to do that alone. His new companion seemed happy to dance too. With each sip of his drink, he could feel the tight muscles that had been contracting across his shoulders gently releasing.

It was several sweaty hours (and several drinks) later, Steve was having the best time. He and his new friend were dancing, drinking and they'd made out a few times but Steve wouldn't be telling anyone about that tomorrow. The feeling of being relaxed and free was strumming through his body when suddenly, he felt someone tap on his shoulder. He span to see Detective Stark smirking up at him with his arms crossed. The taller man open and closed his mouth several times, goldfish-like.

Stark's cheeky smirk only increased, "Did your mom not raise you with manners?" He shouted to be heard over the music, "It's rude not to say hi when you bump into someone you know or were you a little occupied elsewhere?!" His eyes ghosted suggestively across to Steve's dance partner.

Steve dumbly repeated the same action with his mouth as his mind struggled to form any kind of coherent sentence. The dance partner shouted in his ear to check everything was okay. It was rather bizarre for Tony and Steve to be stood stock still in the middle of the dance floor essentially just staring at each other with everyone else dancing around them. The taller man just waved off his concern though. His mind was suddenly vacant of his strong-minded plan to show his colleagues that he wasn't such a prude and, in fact, was capable of having a good time. He could identify with the proverbial deer caught in headlights and Tony Stark was the driver of the 12 wheeled-truck barrelling full speed in his direction.

"Until recently everyone assumed you were a prude but I saw the way you were grinding with that guy." He said with a chuckle, "I'd like to say we had bets placed on this but nobody believed this could happen."

Steve realised it was meant as a light, joking comment but the idea of his colleagues all whispering about him being a prude behind his back felt like a slap to the face. If he had been more sober he would have controlled his expression but unfortunately the hurt and upset translated onto his face extremely clearly. Stark didn't get a chance to clarify his statement as Steve had grabbed the hand of his friend and rushed off through the crowds. Stark dropped his head into his hands as he realised that he had most definitely fucked up.

* * *

The conversation had risen, fallen and collapsed into nothingness repeatedly. It was only a couple of days since Tony had upset Steve in the club and hadn't yet managed to form an apology for the unintentional hurt he had caused. Rogers, while liking to think of himself as the bigger man, hadn't even attempted to engage in any of the conversation Stark desperately attempted. He was happy to boil in his own pile of misery while peering out the window of the car aimlessly.

They had instructions to storm the house at 10 o'clock so were doing recon while their back-up positioned themselves around the corner. Stark would swear that Detective Hill could sense the tension between him and Steve that morning which is why she recommended to the Captain that they co-pilot the raid. Unfortunately, her plan had failed as neither of them were prepared to be in a situation like this together.

"Look, I just want to say-" Tony began for what felt like the one hundredth time when the crackle of the radio interrupted him.

"Targets are inside the house. Move in!" The voice ordered. Somewhere in the back of his mind Stark realised it was Hill but his mind was already focused in on the raid.

The two men jumped out the car and darted towards the house at full speed. They could hear the van, carrying their back-up, close behind them. Charging the door, Steve led in first and shot into the first room on the right with Stark close behind him.

"NYPD! GET ON THE FLOOR!" Detective Rogers shouted, his gun raised aloft close to his chest.

A sudden shot rang out followed by a gasp of pain that Tony's brain immediately recognized. Another shot was fired. Stark's instincts wanted him to stop and check who was injured but knowing that someone willing to shoot was in the same room as them prevented him. Instead he barged forward, knocking the weapon from the shooter's hands and began forcing the criminals to lie on the floor with their hands over their head. The team helped him detain them efficiently.

It was only after the initial adrenaline rush was over that Stark looked around to gauge who was injured. His eyes instantly stuck to Steve's hunched over figure sat leaning against a wall. Nat was crouching beside him administering first aid and reminding him to breath. The darker haired man rushed over and gasped at the sight of blood trickling from Steve's side.

"Oh my god, Steve!" He dropped down so he was eye height with his friend, "Are you okay? Nat, will he be okay?"

"I'm fine, Stark. Don't make a big deal out of it."

"Big deal?" He cried, "You just got shot!" His hands began to flutter over Steve's well-toned body helplessly knowing he couldn't do any more than Nat had already administered.

Steve slapped away his hand and bitterly spat, "Stark, I'm fine. Don't start acting like you care now." Shakily, with Natasha's hands supporting him, Rogers pushed himself up onto his feet whilst leaning heavily against the wall. Tony peered up at him from where he was still kneeling on the floor, unsure of how he could ever make this right.


	5. Chapter 5

For Tony Stark the smell of a hospital was somewhat like an itch that just couldn't be scratched; it was hugely annoying and wouldn't leave until you dealt with it. That's without mentioning how the smell would often draw his mind away from whatever topic he was ruminating over at that particular moment: usually something related to the latest case he was working on. Luckily for Stark, however, his father had been a famous inventor so his inheritance ensured that he could usually have at home doctor's visits or medical care. He wasn't rich but was wealthy enough for luxuries such as that.

The corridors were humming with life as Tony rushed his way passed medical interns jointly hovering over a clipboard, patients walking shakily after surgery or illness and relatives sat white as ghosts along the walls of the corridors which were lined with seats like an extremely long dentist waiting room. Exactly the same but with the anxiety levels ramped up to about 100. This was a bit more than a routine root canal.

He stumbled upon the room almost by accident as the detective had been more than convinced he'd taken the wrong left somewhere along the line in this maze of a building. He had mentally prepared himself for half a day lost in just trying to navigate before he finally lost his wits and surrendered to the knowledge of the medical staff bustling by. He wanted to wait until the last moment though as he wasn't a quitter and wasn't about to become one.

He hesitated with one hand against the cold metal of the door in a mental conflict he was sure the hospital had witnessed many times. But for Stark, it wasn't death or illness that lay behind the door but rather a pissed off colleague that he liked more than he wanted to admit but didn't know how to pacify. Surely, this blunder, worse than all the rest, couldn't be rectified by someone as socially inept as Tony Stark. All he knew was that he wouldn't be willing to forgive quickly if the roles were reversed. Although, Steve had always been the more moral of the two and usually took the higher ground. By the time he had actually convinced himself to enter the room he was half sold on the idea that maybe it should be Steve apologising to him but even he could tell that was his usual behaviour of trying to back out of every awkward social setting in which he couldn't use defensive humor coming into play.

"Tony?" Steve asked in a confused tone.

Stark froze in a moment of blind panic as subconsciously he had hoped that Steve would still be under sedation from the operation to remove the bullet from his side. At least nobody was here to revel in Stark's awkwardness for the next few minutes.

"Uh, yeah… I came to visit our brave and gallant hero!" He exclaimed in an unconvincing tone of enthusiasm.

"Tony, I've been in the hospital before and Nat was the only one to visit. What's different now?" The raise of his eyebrow brushed a sense of guilt onto Tony's conscious. Despite them being equals in position Tony had always felt like Steve was destined to be a captain and therefore somehow deserved more respect than himself.

"Okay, look. Jokes aside. I just came to say I'm sorry. We should have said that stuff about you being uptight and a prude. And I, especially, shouldn't have jumped on the bandwagon before I really knew anything about you." His eyes glazed over the contents of the room, hesitant to face the unforgiving stare Steve was probably shooting his way. The man would be rightfully furious at Tony still. This wasn't something he could see Steve just glossing over. The idea that he had hurt Steve made a flood of guilt wash over him and a frown creased his brow as he considered how he had never really considered his colleague's feelings until recently. Now he suddenly couldn't stop worrying about the other man.

The bright, mega-watt smile was implied in Steve's tone and caused the guilty party to lift his head slowly, "Look, Stark. What you guys did really hurt me but I accept your apology and want to thank you for coming all this way to see me."

The smile made his stomach clench slightly as Steve rarely displayed such a charming and light-hearted grin around him. He felt himself flush as Rogers continued staring at him with soft eyes.

"Anyway!" Tony called significantly too loudly for the silent room, "I hope you heal up soon and manage to get back to the precinct before long… Okay. Okay, then. Bye" He garbled out his sentence as he backed out the doors without giving Steve even a second to piece together another sentence.

As soon as he had fled from the room Natasha popped up from the other side of the bed where she'd been hiding on the floor. She placed the spoon, which is what she originally ducked down to get, back on the side table beside the orange jello. Her glare was pretty severe as Nat crossed her arms and tutted at him reproachfully.

"I told you he definitely has a thing for you. He was a bumbling mess when talking to you!"

"I still don't see it? He's always been a ladies man." He peered after the still slightly swinging door reflectively.

They suddenly jumped as the silence of the room was harshly disrupted by the nurse bustling in with his latest dose of pain killers. His bright smile and conversation dissipated the heavy atmosphere of the room and allowed Steve to shake off these bizarre thoughts about his co-worker and place them, once again, to the back of his mind.

* * *

Natasha was in a bad mood. Not only did she have 4 more weeks before the only person she actually liked in this precinct returned from his recovery but also her case had essentially gone belly up as she had wasted so much time following a false lead. It wasn't easy to make Natasha Romanov feel like the fool but these crooks had successfully done so. She directed her scowl at her dark coffee as she leant against the counter in the break room. Little did she know her day was about to be made significantly brighter by hearing a single piece of information.

"Detective." Tony greeted stonily as he passed her to reach the coffee pot. He'd been trying out the new technique of acting as she did towards him until she was forced to break her icy exterior and be friendly towards him. So far, 5 weeks in, it had gone largely unnoticed by her. "How is detective Rogers?"

She peered at him over the rim of her 'world's best detective' mug, "You know where he lives. Why don't you go and ask him yourself." It was a question but was posed as a definite statement.

Tony's shoulders sagged low as he breathed out slowly, "I don't know… It's Steve."

"And?"

"I wanted to go but I don't know if he'd appreciate my visit… He's so much better than me." If being stoic wouldn't work then he'd have to attempt sharing his feelings and being friendly to her in order to break her cold exterior.

She had to physically restrain herself from rolling her eyes, "I'm pretty sure Steve would be more than happy to see you."

"Really? Well, I guess I wouldn't blame him. If you go too long without seeing this face you get withdrawal symptoms." He chuckled lightly but his dark eyes traced the lines in between the tiles on the floor. Over the years he'd become proficient in the art of disguising his emotions but sometimes, when his brain was working double pace, a slight twitch of the mouth or eye would give him away. He shifted his stance.

"Well," Natasha hesitated, considering Steve's privacy and state of recovery, "You know where he lives." She stated before striding off to her next task.

As it happened, Tony did not actually know where Steve lived but thank the Gods for their extensive employee database he had access to.


	6. Chapter 6

Was Steve in pain? Most definitely. Was he going to admit that? If it was going to earn him more unwanted recovery time off then most certainly not! He was a stubborn man and had been labelled more than once as a workaholic. It was a quality he wasn't exactly ashamed off and proudly worked hard in order to maintain his dream of becoming the Captain of his own precinct one day.

He fell back against his couch and winced as the stitches berated him for his sudden movement and so carelessly too. He breathed through the sudden stab of pain and instead grabbed for an old case file that he'd managed to wrangle from Captain Fury's reluctant hands. He flicked through the folded and rumpled pages, many marked with dark brown rings, and sighed at his state of utter inactivity. He was a giant blob of useless energy; he couldn't work, get out or head to the gym. Even the slight movement he could achieve was scolded by the bite of his healing wound. He dropped his head against the back of the couch and permitted himself to waste some of his overly-abundant time by peering up at the smooth white of his ceiling.

It was the sudden ringing of the doorbell that snapped him from his trance and forced him to manoeuvre off the soft cushions to see who had decided to make his day unendingly more interesting. At this point, a single letter, even a bill, would brighten his gray day: at least he'd be able to spend a few minutes reading over what was written there.

The face that was revealed behind the heavy door was unexpected and Steve was sure his surprise reflected on his features, "Tony?"

The smaller man couldn't help but be surprise that his colleague addressed him by his first name. Their relationship had always been formal and stiff no matter how much Tony teased his fellow detective.

"I thought you might be missing this face." He smirked.

"I've only been on bed rest for a week and a half but by this point, any face would do." Despite his sarcastic comment a slight smile was beginning to spread across his face. Company was company, "Please, come on in."

He stepped back to allow Tony entrance and followed the man through to the small apartment living room. While Steve apologised for the mess and began to shuffle together the papers, Tony was trying to put into a percentage just how much tidier Steve's apartment was than his. He tried to figure out what their age gap was because his apartment looked more like a college student's den than an actual adult's home like Steve's; there was even a real plant on the window ledge.

They both perched on the couch together after Steve had provided coffee for them both. The fact Steve was still injured hadn't occurred to Tony, in his moments of awkward social interaction, until Steve winced before lowering himself gently onto the cushions.

"Does it still hurt?" Tony asked, dumbly in a hope it seemed somewhat sympathetic.

Steve raised his eyebrows, "Have you ever been shot?" On Tony's head shake he continued, "Then you have no idea how bad it hurts… but it is definitely getting better."

Detective Stark picked up on the sudden change of attitude half way through the sentence and suddenly realised that Steve, as a social workaholic, definitely didn't benefit from been cooped up all day with nothing to do. He was a man of action and do-gooding not a couch potato.

"Anyway, is there a reason you're visiting?" His blond bangs fell over his forehead as he leant his head in a puppy-dog way, concern making him frown.

Being defensive definitely wouldn't help the conversation but he went there anyway, "What? No, why should there be a reason?"

"As much as I enjoy your company, I've always got the impression you only talk to me when you have to."

He knew it was right but he'd actually begun to actually like Steve Rogers over the last few months so was going to do anything possible to convince the other man he was wrong. His instinct was to crack a joke and laugh it off but he knew that after this long with Steve feeling forced upon Tony's friendship then it wouldn't just go away. He wanted to start again with a blank slate.

"I like you, Steve… It may not have always been this way but now I've gotten to know you I really like you."

"Really?" He squinted his eyes suspiciously, "This isn't a bet or prank?"

"Really really. I'm done messing with you Steve and I realise now that when I have in the past was a huge mistake." His cell started ringing, breaking the well cultivated atmosphere between them. He glanced at it, assessing the urgency of the call before apologising and picking it up.

The precinct was calling so he pretty much had no choice but to respond. He ascertained the details quickly before hanging up and standing to leave but Steve caught his arm and used his famous puppy-dog eyes against him.

"Please, let me come." Begging, he needed out of his small apartment. Tony couldn't exactly refuse an invalid, could he?

"I don't know, Steve… It's a pretty dangerous call out."

"I'll be so good. I won't even leave the car, I promise." His grip around Tony's arm was getting tighter as his desperation flowed through him. In the few seconds Tony hesitated Steve added, "I'll tie you up and won't let you leave unless you let me come."

Tony raised an eyebrow and had to wonder whether it could be considered normal to get slightly turned on by such an image. There was no denying Steve was a good-looking man but his body had never had such an instinctual response to something the other man had said before. The detective sighed and realised he didn't have time for any of this, especially contemplating his sudden attraction to his colleague.

"Fine, get in the car but if you die it's your ass on the line." He was still halfway through the sentence when Steve was hobbling down the stairs full speed, suddenly beaming.

Tony rolled his eyes and pulled the apartment door shut behind him.

* * *

With his lights blaring, Tony darted through traffic to try and make up for the time he'd wasted contemplating Steve and the man's physically ability to just sit in a cop car. Detective Rogers was a very competent and intelligent officer so Tony rolled his eyes at the protective moment he just experienced. Steve was definitely hiding the fact he was gripping the side of his chair as Tony's vigorous driving was knocking with his wound. He, however, had begged to come so as a man of honor he would not complain to Tony. The ten minutes it took for them to get from Steve's apartment to the crime scene was a decade in Steve's mind. Their brakes screeched to a halt, smoke emanating from the rubber.

"Wait here!" Tony shouted as he leapt out of the car and slammed the door.

Outside the car, on the street, things were turning to chaos with people running and shouting in all directions. It was hard to distinguish the victims of the bank hostage situation from those criminals simply fleeing the scene now that several police units had arrived at the same time. Steve immediately lost sight of Tony amongst the crowd but he continued scanning the people rapidly; he may be off duty but that didn't mean his detective instincts had just gone dormant. His blue eyes snapped across the road to see Tony getting in a struggle with an apparent perp. Without thinking, he moved to dart out the vehicle but the stab of his wound stopped him moving. He watched with baited breath with a hand pressed against his side.

Suddenly,as Steve watched on, the criminal threw a heavy punch at the other detective then ran towards an alley with Stark on his heels.

That was it. Steve wasn't about to let this guy get away. He leapt from the passenger side to run to drive the vehicle, ignoring the stinging pain.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a significant amount of time since Stark had last completed an on-foot criminal chase as detectives were usually limited to the post-crime stuff; he could definitely feel this fact as his lungs began to burn and muscles throbbed at the unexpected sprint down the alley. The perp was gaining distance away from him and Tony was almost certain this guy was going to get away when suddenly a car pulled, full speed, onto the alley through a thin entrance. The brakes squealed and smoke poured off as the car skidded to a halt slap-bang in the centre of the path.

Unprepared for this sudden intrusion, the criminal ran straight into the side of the car with a large banging sound, sending them cascading to the ground in a groaning heap. Technically, he couldn't sue them as he had run full speed into a parked car by his own volition. Tony peered down at the criminal when the car window buzzed down.

Steve grinned out the window at his colleague, "Now, that was a take down."

Tony blanched, "Steve?!" for some reason, he had never expected Detective Rogers to be the type of man to be proficient in evasive driving like that. He began to argue again the man but Steve raised a hand to silence him.

"I technically am still in the vehicle." He said seriously before his straight lips began to curl into a guilty, adrenaline fuelled grin. He couldn't believe just how good it felt to actually get out of the apartment and do some actual police work!

His laugh came out in a huff, "That, I can't deny." They chuckled together for a couple of seconds before they were interrupted.

The voice from the floor commented bitterly, "I don't know what's worse. Being arrested or having to watch you two flirt while it happens."

Tony scowled down at him, "We're not flirting." Swiftly, he pulled up the unhurt man and tightened a pair of cuffs around his wrists. He didn't want to stop and consider whether they really were flirting because that would be the second time in an hour he noticed he liked Steve more than he did before.

Mere moments later, Natasha rolled up in her car and immediately noticed her friend behind the wheel of Tony's car. Her eyes were focused solely on Stark as she took the perp from his hands and delivered him into the back of her car. Her eyes gave off a warning that Tony didn't know how to interpret; it felt like a death threat somehow. He swallowed the lump in his throat as she climbed back into her car and rolled down the window. The engine was rumbling still and she spoke as she began to pull away.

"If he gets hurt because of you I will not hesitate to kill you." She murmured as the car pulled away.

With Natasha's threat ringing in his ears, he gulped and turned to face the car to see Steve pulling himself out of the door slowly. Tony winced, knowing that this couldn't be a good sign. As the taller man turned to face him, the flower of red was starting to bloom across his side as though the crimson floodgates had been opened. Steve followed the dark haired man's eyes and let out the mildest, softest curse.

"D'you mind a slight detour to the hospital on the way home?" He tried to smile but the ache of his ripped stitches was beginning to wear through the hum of the feel good adrenaline. He internally cringed knowing that his doctor would be less than pleased to find he'd ripped his stitches for the second time in a week and a half. In his defence, what was he supposed to do while at home? A workout only seemed reasonable at the time.

A sensation of dread washed over the shorter detective as he watched the blood soak right through the bandage under the white shirt.

"Natasha is going to kill me. I'm dead. Just dead."

* * *

It was a week after Steve had returned from his recovery time and was eager to get stuck back into real police work. However, as usual, the day started with admin as they got called straight into the Monday morning meeting.

Fury was waiting for them by the time everyone had settled down, "First let's welcome Detective Rogers back" Natasha clapped the loudest despite her face reflecting no emotion. Steve blushed from where he was sat in the seat beside her, "Okay, now. First things first, Stark and Rogers, you two have a case this week that'll need some undercover work." He paused to make time for both men to protest but none came. He pretended not to be surprised as he continued. There had be rumours circulating the office that there had been a 180 in Tony and Steve's relationship but this was the first instance he had seen that confirmed that.

It was after the meeting when they collected the details of the case.

"Usual case of just intel gathering, detectives." Deputy Coulson informed them, "We need to keep an eye on a building in Brooklyn for possible large scale illegal arms dealing."

The two detectives nodded eagerly. Steve was raring to go but Tony was excited to get back out there with the man considering how well the last chase ended. Within a couple of days they were all set up and ready to move into the hide out.

* * *

-soon after-

They were both staring at it in an awkward silence and both pretending that their hearts weren't pounding at 100mph whilst resisting the urge to peer across at their colleague. A single bed was shoved into the corner of the tiny box room with a single blanket and pillow. The house was on its way to being derelict and the sound of rats in between the floorboards was less than comforting. Their eyes traced the object in uncertain anxiety. When they'd accepted the undercover case they hadn't exactly been given details about their accommodation; all Fury had done was apologise for it as the options were limited with such short notice. They didn't realise just how bad he actually meant.

"I mean… At least there is one." Steve suggested with what was left of his optimism.

Detective Stark opened his mouth to comment but snapped it shut upon Steve's glare. This undercover work was going to be hard enough as it was without Starks's sass tripping them up.

Steve spoke as he dropped in bag onto the damp, wooden floor, "I guess you'd better take the bed since you'd have to chase the perp if they make a dash." He had been okayed for basic detective work but the doctors had advised him at least a few more weeks until he could return to peak physical exertion, "You'll need to be on peak form." He began to push his bag across the room to where he'd use it as a pillow.

Stark grabbed his arm to stop him, "You're the one recovering from a freaking gunshot wound. I don't need my beauty sleep in order to run well!"

"And I do?!" He stood up to his full height and peered down at the other man.

"No! You know exactly what I mean!" There didn't seem any reasonable justification, in Tony's mind, to why a wounded detective should sleep on the rat infested, kinda damp and rock hard floorboards.

"Seems we're at an impasse. What are we going to do about it?" Steve squared up.


	8. Chapter 8

2 hours later, the two detectives hugged the very boundaries of the mattress in a desperate attempt at preventing their butts from touching. They lay facing away from each other in silence despite both being completely aware that the other was fully conscious. Neither wanted to be the first to break the silence but the tension was thick around them.

Tony felt the bed behind him shift as Steve slowly lifted his head to peer back at his colleague to determine whether Tony had fallen asleep or lying awkwardly just like himself. Steve's sigh echoed around the room, accidently amplifying the weary sound.

"You can't sleep either?" The shorter man broke out. His heart speed up slightly as he awaited a response.

There was a second of hesitation before Steve turned to face the other detective and answered, "Not really. You?"

Tony followed the man's lead and shuffled around awkwardly until he could look into the blue eyes, "I can't stop thinking about stuff. The case, the precinct, this… situation." He glanced down at the space in between them. There was hardly six inches of space separating them and making them two individual forms. Tony frowned at the direction of his thoughts and mentally pushed back against them. His feelings for Steve had been growing rapidly over the last few months but he knew that Steve could never feel the same for a jackass like him.

"This… situation isn't so bad." His eyes traced the other man's face, "At least we both… We both- Um." Steve stuttered as his eyes locked onto the way Tony's tongue darted out to moisten his lips rapidly.

Before Tony's sleep heavy brain had time to realise Steve was closing the small void between them, pressing their lips together gently. Before he had even recovered from the initial surprise Steve was already pulling back with red embarrassment tinging his cheeks.

"I am so sorry! I promise it won't-" He got interrupted by Tony's mouth on his.

Tony kissed him in the way his subconscious had been urging him to do for weeks. His passion rushed forward as the floodgates of his rational brain burst allowing his purposely repressed feelings toward his colleague came pouring out. He had been trying to dissuade himself from liking someone so inaccessible but now everything he had played down came rushing forth and fit like a puzzle.

After a minute he whispered against Steve's lips, "You should really take a guy out to dinner before getting so touchy but for you, I'll wave the rule."

Steve looked away as the heat of his embarrassment increased, turning his cheeks bright beet red, "I'm sorry. I really should have said something instead of just attacking you like that."

"Are you kidding?! That was the greatest surprise of my whole life!"

Steve couldn't help but burst out into laughter and grin ear from ear. His instantaneous panic after the kiss was beginning to melt away as he peered at Tony's reflecting smile. His underlying feelings bubbled up to that monumental moment.

"I've been waiting to do that for weeks." Steve admitted.

Tony's grin grew impossibly wider, "Good things come to those who wait!"

"Did you just call yourself a 'good-" Steve started chuckling when Tony cut him off by capturing his lips in his. Needless to say, no more talking was done for a very long time.

* * *

Steve glanced around the precinct as each detective sat at their desk typing up case results, events or just secretly browsing social media. So far only Natasha, who happened to be watching him at this very moment, seemed suspicious of what had happened between Tony and Steve during their undercover mission which had completely changed the atmosphere between them. She kept asking him questions about the task that she usually wouldn't care to ask. As he continued surveying the scene whilst trying to consider who may be suspicious, he accidently made eye contact with her again and she jerked her head towards the old case file room before stalking off. Steve recognised the signal; it was well known around the precinct that if a private conversation needed to be held then the files room was the place to hold it.

He waited a minute or so before following to reduce the blazing obviousness. Several eyes followed him across the room; these people were detectives! Of course they notice when two of their colleagues slip off into the secret-conversation room.

Natasha was somehow leaning against an unsteady box of files without knocking it off. Her arms were crossed and her brows were folded into a deep frown that he knew meant bad news for him. She definitely knew something.

"Anything eventful happen on the case?" She said, purposefully with her eyebrow risen, for what felt like the one hundredth time.

"Nat, I've already told you that nothing interesting happened."

Aside from a slight make-out session that night, he and Tony hadn't exactly confronted what had happened and now they were back to regular life it almost felt like a blurry dream that definitely didn't happen. He didn't have the guts to ask the other man about it in case he got shot down which would break his heart after he worked up all of his bravery to make the first move.

"Oh really? Because I happen to know that there was exactly one bed in the room you stayed in and judging by the sudden avoidance tactics between you two something must have happened." She watched him carefully as he began to flush a bright. Natasha's eyebrows rose until they could almost be mistaken for migrating caterpillars.

Steve knew he was about to embarrass himself but sucked it up and spoke anyway. Natasha was his closest friend in their department so if he couldn't share with her then he would have to just let it boil inside, "We may have shared a bed…" Her eyebrows rose further as she could tell there would be more, "And there may have been-"

He suddenly snapped his mouth shut as the door opened. Both detectives leapt over to a nearby pile of cases and grabbed whatever one was on top. Deputy Coulson entered, looking confused at their presence in the room, "What are you two doing in here?"

Steve was still floundering from being interrupted during his big reveal so luckily Natasha was there to step in. She lifted a file, "I needed to look back at an old case to check if it was related to the Parson case I'm looking into now. Steve said he had the case out recently so helped me find it."

Phil glanced between them suspiciously for a moment before smiling, "That's great! Don't let me disturb you." He began rummaging through files in a nearby box.

The two detectives leant their heads close together, trying to keep up the pretence while continuing their secret conversation. Phil was only a few metres from them and he definitely wouldn't be pleased to hear Steve and Tony had started making out while on a case. He also wouldn't be pleased to hear that Steve and Natasha were sneaking off to talk about it when they should definitely be working.

"So?" Nat encouraged as she flipped through some random files. He eyes scanned the irrelevant information in an impressive display of her acting skills.

"We may have kissed once… or twice… or…" He broke off as his embarrassment became debilitating, "But that was all!"

A smile ghosted across her lips and Steve could tell she was dying to say 'I told you so' as she had been claiming that Stark had a thing for him for months! She peered around to keep an eye on Coulson before whispering, "I knew something had happened! You two have been so weird around each other since coming back!"

Steve tried not to look disgruntled, "But nothing happened after that. It has just been kind of awkward since then."

"Well, maybe you need to be the one to break the ice?" Nat suggested as she shuffled the pages to pretend to be searching for a certain detail.

Steve wanted to slam his head against the wall. Surely if he pursued Tony last time then the man knows Steve is interested and therefore should be the one to act next? Steve can't even tell whether Stark likes him or was just looking for someone to mess around with. He'd always viewed the other detective as slightly promiscuous so wouldn't be surprised if the other man actually had no real interest in him.

"But I did it last time!" He moaned like a petulant child.

Natasha peered up at him in surprise, "You did?" She shook her head, "I always assumed Tony would make the first move since you were denying the fact you had chemistry!"

Coulson was beginning to look over at them suspiciously so they swiftly closed the fake searching-through-files task and retreated back to their desks. Steve felt like Natasha had so many more questions to ask though so he would probably be called back in the room within the next few hours. As they left, however, a thought arose to the man and he turned to her to ask,

"How did you even know there was only one bed?" Steve asked as the realisation dawned on him.

She shot him a mischievous smile, "I went there two hours before and took the other one away. It was about time you two got a push in the right direction." With that she strode away leaving him gobsmacked in the middle of the precinct.


	9. Chapter 9

It was only three days since they had returned from the undercover investigation but Tony purposely avoided meeting eyes with his colleague. The tension between them was palpable but he desperately tried to ignore it since he wasn't even sure if Steve was actually into him or was just getting revenge for him fucking with his feelings in the past.

They were currently alone in the office as both were working after hours to get their cases finished. Tony was writing up the undercover assignment while trying to not allow his mind to make their kisses the only thing he wanted to think about. He struggled to recall what time they made contact with the target on their latest case but he could describe the exact way Steve's lips felt against his own. He glanced up quickly at the other man typing away at his desk oblivious and probably nonplussed to Tony's thoughts. He decided to reside himself to the fact that the taller detective was simply too good for him.

He continued typing then peered up again when a detail of the case (It happened to be the criminal's red car) made him think back to that moment where he was taken completely by surprise. Detective Stark frowned when he noticed Steve had disappeared but his belongings were still scattered around his desk. He shrugged it off and forced himself to stare at the screen until the case was completely written up. It was going well until five minutes later he realized he needed the file of a similar case they did last year. He sighed and headed towards the file room.

Opening the door, he jumped as he nearly walked straight into a large figure. Steve was leaning against the rows of shelves with his hands running through his blond hair. The two detectives met eyes for a moment and Steve quickly pulled himself together.

"Detective Stark." Steve greeted frostily.

"Rogers." He replied, "Stressed?" The man's hair was sticking out at strange angles from the frequency that he had been running his hands through it.

Wrinkles formed in between the taller man's eyebrows and around his frowning lips. He hesitated to speak so Tony interrupted.

"Did I do something wrong?" Big brown eyes grew impossibly larger. He didn't want to be told that Steve didn't like him but he couldn't live his life not knowing.

"Wrong? I thought it was my fault?" In confusion, Steve ran his hands through his hair again.

"What was your fault?"

He spoke as though his transgression was more than obvious and Tony was just playing dumb, "I made a move on you when it was unwanted."

"Unwanted? Are you kidding?"

It was that second that they finally saw each other through the haze of their misinterpretation and confusion. They'd both made assumptions and believed wrongly about the other. In that moment, the tension that had been steadily rising since they'd first kissed came pouring back at double the intensity. In the silence, the only sound was their breathing as the stared at each other; neither wanting to be the one to make the first move.

Then Tony moved. The energy he had repressed since the case being unlocked meant that he couldn't stop so he leapt forward to lock their lips together. Steve's body reacted immediately, leaning forward into Tony's embrace and kissing him back with passion.

Once they touched it seemed impossible to pull their hands away as they explored each other's bodies eagerly. Steve moaned gently against Tony's lips as he could feel a heat beginning to pool inside his belly. He guided his hands across the other man's chest keenly, feeling at the muscle hidden by the shirt.

Tony shivered, "Sounds like that really shouldn't be lawful." He mouthed Steve's bottom lip to try and elicit the noise again.

Steve played along, humming out a moan twice as loud and twice as guttural. Tony reacted straight away, pushing the other detective up against the shelving unit behind them and kissing down the man's neck. Pressed so close together they could feel the swell of the other's arousal pressing against the confinement of their pants.

The taller man grasped the other's hair to guide their lips back together. Their teeth clashed as they rushed to get closer and deepen the kiss.

Tony's hands ghosted Steve's body appreciatively. He had always known the man had a good body but feeling it properly for the first time was a completely different experience. Steve's muscles shifted under his touch in response to the sensation.

Steve moved his mouth away hesitantly, "Is this- Is this really the place?" He sighed out when Tony began sucking against his neck in a hint of what was to come.

"It's only us." He muttered as his fingers began fumbling with Steve's belt, "Nobody else in the building."

Steve nodded in understanding before he pushed Tony's hands out the way as he was taking too long and unbuckled his own belt.

Quickly, he moved onto the other man's pants but Tony stopped him, instead dropping down onto his knees with such speed that he would probably develop bruises tomorrow.

The smaller man pushed down Steve's underwear freeing his cock which sprang up proudly. Tony hummed appreciatively, trying to hide his apprehension at the size, before taking it into his mouth and sucking.

The sudden pressure had Steve's knees weak making him grab hold of the shelves behind him to stabilise himself. He breathed deep as Tony's tongue began to circle the head, bringing out every trick he knew to provoke those sounds. Successfully, he noted smugly.

Steve's large fingers twisted into Tony's hair as he threw his head back.

The shorter detective lowered his mouth further down until his lips brushed the base of the shaft, taking the whole of Steve's impressive size into his mouth before humming encouragingly. His own member was pressing up with increasing discomfort as Steve's reactions were doing all sorts to the heat in his lower stomach.

It was soon after that he could tell Steve was coming close due to the way he was struggling to control the bucking of his hips. Stark pressed his hands against the firm hips to try and steady the other man.

"Tony!" Steve groaned with increasing intensity in time with his pants for air. His grasp of Tony's hair got tighter.

The smaller man couldn't recall the last time a partner had been so responsive and that fact had his cock demanding attention even more. He placed his own hand on his penis and began jerking, hurried strokes in an attempt to keep in time with Steve. He moaned at the sensation which triggered the same response from the standing man.

Moments later, Steve was coming with the cry of Tony's name on his lips. He slipped down so they were both on the floor and grabbed Tony's lips in his and kissed him passionately while his hands aided Tony. The darker haired man huffed and stammered against Steve as he came soon after. They leant against each other, their breath mingling, as the took a moment to collect themselves.

* * *

The second the moment had passed Steve felt like a fool. They were kneeling on the floor of the files room together, sweaty and out of breath. It suddenly dawned on him that anyone could enter the room at any moment as the precinct is a rather public place. He could feel the red flushing up his neck but Tony's hand smoothed over the heating area comfortingly. Steve's brain wasn't working fast enough to allow him to figure out why it soothed him so much.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked while handing him his jacket and buckling up his own belt. He could sense Steve was already retreating back into his head where he would panic about what had just happened and their relationship. He didn't know what they were but he knew that he wanted something more.

"Nothing! It was- You were great! I just feel bad about doing it in the files room… Other people have to use this room."

Tony chuckled gently. He wasn't about to tell Steve about all the places he had done something sexual. His reputation for being promiscuous wasn't completely without basis but he wasn't ashamed of that. It did make him laugh, however, at the idea of him getting with Steve Rogers especially with all his preconceived ideas of the man. A few months ago he would have never even been able to imagine Steve doing anything even remotely naughty within the precinct confines.

"Nobody has to know. It can be between just you and me." Stark stated, wiping their sweat and mess off the floor.

"It's just so strange. I never do this kind of thing." He blushed.

Tony smirked and stated with a wink, "Nice to know I have this effect on you. Can come in handy…" He trailed off suggestive and Steve immediately knew he'd gotten himself in trouble with this one.

"Oh gosh." He covered his face with his large hands. It was definitely a bad idea giving a man like Tony such sensitive information.

They left the room awkwardly with Tony continually trying to tease and flirt with Steve but the larger man was just desperate to flee the crime scene before they got caught. Within minutes they were both miles from the precinct, heading home in an opposite direction with the other one on the mind.


	10. Chapter 10

Steve could tell someone was in his apartment when he arrived home. He opened the door silently and breathed quietly as he could hear movement from deep within the building. He'd never had anyone break in before but he had heard of other police officers who'd experienced criminals breaking in for revenge. The detective snuck in further and could see a figure in the lit kitchen rummaging through his refrigerator.

He got in closer before leaping on the invader with all his weight. The man fell down with a screech before fighting back wholeheartedly. They scuffled for a few moments before the invader moved around enough to get a view of his attacker's face.

"Woah, woah, woah!" The man called out. His voice immediately registered as familiar to the detective making him slow down, "Steve!"

He stopped and peered down at the intruder, "Sam? What?!"

"I came round like two hours ago but the house was all locked up. It waited for a while but got pretty soaked through in the rain so used the spare key you gave me. I was starting to worry about you since I know you were supposed to finish three hours ago." Sam Wilson rushed out to explain.

"I am so sorry." Steve rushed out to say, "I'm not thinking straight."

"What is up with you? I haven't heard from you in weeks, you didn't even notice my bike outside and you jump me?" He demands, crossing his arms.

"I've been distracted…" He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

The movement drew Sam's attention to the man's neck and his eyes widened the second he clocked the dark bruises growing across the side. He frowned before his eyes lightened with realisation, "Who is it? You didn't say you're seeing someone! You usually tell me everything… Too much really."

"I'm not… We're not... Anything." The detective stuttered, uselessly. He'd known Sam since back in his army days and never once had he ever been able to slip a lie past him.

"Not anything?" He blanched, "Stevie you're not the type to stop off somewhere after work for a quickie." The disgusted look on Steve's face at the word alone was conformation but his cheeks flushed even darker and Sam instantly knew, "Oh man, don't tell me you didn't leave work? Oh god, you did it in the precinct."

"We didn't do 'it'." He argued back weakly but by this point Sam had already deduced the sequence of events that had occurred at the office.

Steve slunk through to his lounge and dumped himself down on the couch. Wilson perched nearby to continue prying like a good friend should. The detective rubbed his hands over his face wearily.

"So, what are you two?"

Steve sighed and rested his head against the back of the couch before rolling it to the side so he could look his friend in the eye, "Genuinely, I don't know. I've been ignoring my feelings for this guy for so long that I don't really want to ask him what this is in case I scare him off. It feels too good to be true."

"If he is worth you, Steve, then he should be willing to talk this out with you. You know that talking and stuff hasn't always been my forte but it might be the best solution here."

Steve blinked at the man for a moment, "Are you using your 'Living with PTSD Seminar' knowledge about my relationship?"

"Hey!" Sam cried defensively, "That shit works! Communication is key for most things."

Steve could only smile as Sam had forced him to come along to most of the events at the veteran's centre after he got employed there and he couldn't deny that they definitely helped him more than he had been expecting. Not to mention that communication was definitely key in his transition back to civilian-hood.

Sam took Steve's smile as a sign of agreement so circled back to the main issue, "Who is it?"

"Uh, Tony Stark?"

Sam's jaw dropped, "The asshole you've been complaining about for years?"

The detective sighed and prepared himself for what he knew would be a huge series of questions.

* * *

The next morning, Steve and Tony kept making sneaking glances in the other's direction. Their work came second to instead shooting looks across at each other when they felt they had waited enough time since they last looked. The rest of the team could only roll their eyes and pretend they didn't notice.

Everyone was pushing out cases at a rapid pace as a report on their monthly arrest figures was due at the end of the working day and they needed every arrest they could to ensure their precinct remained above the average standard. If they fell below too often cuts would be made inside the office meaning colleagues would be lost. Fury was watching them like a hawk from inside his office; on a day with such a deadline he wasn't about to allow them to slack off by gazing at each other.

After a few hours, Tony marched over with an unfamiliar case and slapped it down on Steve's desk. Before Steve could claim that they weren't partnered on this case Stark was saying, "I need you to sign off on this." He was gone before he had even finished the sentence, having instead to call over his shoulder as he marched away.

Steve shook his head at Stark's antics and rolled his eyes at the fact that the man would be so rude to him even after they had taken their relationship to the next level. He understood that it was vital to maintain a level of professionalism within the workplace but at least a please wouldn't go amiss.

Sighing, Steve flipped open the file and blinked at the bright yellow post-it note that glared up at him. It was tacked directly on the first page so there was no chance of it being over looked. Written in Stark's cramped scrawl it stated:

Drinks 8. The Bellvue. –T

Steve had to duck his head to hide the grin that was blossoming across his lips. He didn't want Fury to notice and get suspicious but he just couldn't control his happiness. Finding out that Stark also wanted to take their relationship seriously was hugely gratifying. He'd always pegged Stark, as most people did, as a 'love 'em and leave 'em' type and he recognised that Tony often played into the reputation he had developed.

He looked up to give a nod of the head to Tony but the man had vanished. Steve chuckled to himself as he shook his head and closed the file. Typical for Tony to be so cocky and self-assured; what if Steve was secretly a 'love 'em and leave 'em' type with no interest in pursuing their relationship further. Despite ranting this to himself, detective Rogers knew he was too much of an open book and everyone knew he was looking for a committed relationship.

Steve returned the file to the other man's desk but didn't place a response. He wanted to see how confident Stark was about Steve definitely turning up. Would the man still go without a definite answer or skip the event?

Once the smaller detective returned from where ever he was hiding, Steve purposefully kept his eyes solely on his own computer screen despite being able to sense Tony's gaze frequently drifting across the precinct. Steve was going to teach the man a lesson in humility if it kills him.


	11. Chapter 11

The bar was dark when a damp Steve arrived mere minutes before 8 o'clock which made it harder to scan the room for his date. His stomach tightened when at first he could see his fellow detective anywhere in the long bar. He felt awkward walking up and down the room peeping into the booths and tables so came very close to leaving when he felt someone tap his rain-soaked shoulder.

A tall man with long dark hair was giving him his most charming smile when he introduced himself. Steve was uncomfortable at first as he didn't always trust random people who approached him in bars. He had experienced some negative situations in the past where people couldn't get the hint that he really did not want to talk with them and they didn't take it well when he expressed that explicitly.

"Stood up?" The guy asked, taking a couple steps back to lean against the bar and sip his drink.

"Uh, it's partly my fault because I decided he-" Steve began to explain when suddenly he heard the familiar clicking sound of handcuffs and his arms were being shoved behind his back, "What on earth?!"

"Sir, I am placing you under arrest!" Tony barked, having just appeared behind his colleague and Steve's eyes rolled instinctively. He then directed his comment towards the guy Steve was talking to, "I'm sorry, sir, but this many is a highly dangerous criminal. We're been hunting him down for months."

Steve, not fighting, stated dully, "Tony, this is an abuse of your power. If Captain Fury finds out about this you'll be in serious trouble."

"Please," Tony scoffed as he led Steve towards the exit. Patrons were watching fascinated at the opportunity to catch a glimpse of a dangerous criminal, "Everyone knows Nick loves me." Every knew that Nick certainly did not love Tony. He could barely go a day without cursing the rule breaking, meeting ditching, know-it-all detective, "Besides, I just couldn't wait any longer to see you in a pair of handcuffs." He purred flirtatiously not realising that Rogers took the responsibility of policing with a touch more importance than he did.

Once they stepped out the bar and into the pouring rain Steve snapped, "How could you do that?! Not only did you humiliate me in front of the whole bar but you abused your power as a police detective!"

Tony's humorous persona dropped as he realised that Steve really was upset by what had transpired inside. He whipped the handcuffs off and hurriedly put them away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think-" Tony started but as soon as the phrase 'didn't think' slipped out Steve was furious.

"Didn't think?! You didn't think?! That's your problem, Stark! You never think through the consequences of you actions!" His face was flushing red with passion and he went to snap some more but stopped himself, "I can't… I just can't deal with this."

Without another word, Tony was left standing outside the bar on his own as Steve rushed away. The other man's name died on his lips as he realised calling after him would be useless. The remaining detective peered around the dark streets and sighed to himself mournfully. He had never been in a single relationship where he didn't somehow screw it up. He'd lost all hope of being with Steve so he could only pray that the man didn't tell Fury about what had happened. Steve didn't seem like the type of man to seek revenge but then he was a fan of sticking strictly to the rule book.

He didn't know whether he was pleased they didn't have work tomorrow or wished they were forced together to allow him to apologise.

—

Natasha was a night owl and Steve had to thank God for that fact as he ran through the rain and looked up at her apartment window, lit by a soft yellow glow. Once at the entrance he buzzed her and she answered immediately,

"Mr Jenkins, I swear if you've forgotten your key again I will be driven to murder and, yes, I can make it look like an accident." She spoke without waiting for him to speak.

He rolled his eyes at another colleague abusing the detective-ness, "Nat, can I come up?"

She clearly could read the upset in his voice as she had already buzzed the door open before saying, "Come up, Steve."

She was waiting by the door by the time he had managed to climb the several floors to her apartment. Natasha had predicted the state of the man and held out a towel for him to dry himself upon entry. He loved her friends but also she wasn't willing to allow her couch to get messed up. Her flaming red hair was tied up in a messy bun to keep it from her face as she prepared for bed.

She led him over to the living room and encouraged him to sit down while never taking her eyes from his clearly distressed face. He continued to dry the droplets of water from his blond hair.

"What happened?" It wasn't very often Steve turned up on her doorstep a mess; it had only occurred once in the whole time she had known the man. Her detective skills led her to believe that Stark had somehow messed up again since he always seemed to be doing that.

"Tony pretended to arrest me in front of a room full of people." Steve mumbled out as he tried to dry off his shirt even though it was unsalvageable. She frowned in confusion, "It was an abuse of power and humiliating."

"Why did he arrest you?" She desperately needed some clarification.

"We agreed to meet somewhere for drinks and he was-" He started.

"Whoa, whoa! You two went on a date?!" Eyes growing wide, she demanded information, "And you didn't tell me?!"

"It happened so quickly, I didn't get a change. It all went wrong anyway." He sighed.

"You've really fallen for him." She commented, softly knowing that this was information that Steve had probably been subconsciously denying for weeks.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" Steve ran his fingers through his hair and flopped back against the couch wearily.

"Yeah but I can also see how upset you are that your date went wrong. You can't expect me to believe that you don't care about this!" Nat lectured in between sips of soothing tea, "You like him and if I were you I wouldn't ruin it by clinging onto his mistakes. Stark has never been in a relationship that isn't just sex so he doesn't know how to act either."

"You really shouldn't make excuses for him." He murmured but Natasha could tell he was already considering her point of view. He rubbed his fingertips across his lips as he thought.

"You can stay here." She offered.

Shaking his head and handing back the towel, he said, "I think I need to head home and think some more about this."

Minutes later he was out on the street heading to the subway under a flimsy umbrella Natasha had lent him.


	12. Final chapter and Epilogue

Meanwhile, Steve's neighbors were growing increasingly antsy at the current state of affairs. A man had spent the last hour on the wet doorstep of their building alternating between pressing the buzzer and calling up to Steve's dark window. Many hands hovered over 911 as they watched him carefully but he showed no sign of leaving.

They watched as the man called again, "Come on, Steve! I said I'm sorry! I didn't mean to screw it up!" He began shivering severely as he moved over to hold his finger against the ringer for Steve's apartment.

Tony always knew that Steve was stubborn but he was struggling to believe that the man could tolerate the incessant buzzing and calling for a full hour especially when the man's neighbors were becoming so distressed by it. The man really was a model citizen so surely wouldn't allow his fellow inhabitants to suffer like this.

He moved back to again holler up to the empty window when a familiar voice stopped him.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked.

Tony spun around and a sudden flood of guilt washed over him. Maybe he should have listened when the old man on floor four called out the window saying that Steve clearly wasn't in. Tony brushed off the emotion and instead focused on the man.

"I came to see you." He put every inch of plea into his voice, "I realise what I did was a dick move and I need to apologise." The admission hurt his ego but he hoped it was for a good cause.

"I think I need to apologise too." Steve muttered, looking down at the floor. Needless to say, Tony was hugely surprised by this sudden turn of events. He was still working through his own guilt and hadn't yet started to think about what Steve might to be to blame for. The taller man continued, "I over reacted. We are both just as unfamiliar with the whole relationship etiquette thing and you didn't know how much what you did would embarrass me."

"But it was against the rules." He suggested, hesitantly. He was almost certain that it was probably against the law but he didn't want to make it seem worse.

"And when I became interested in you I knew that you often disregard those rules. If you weren't who you are I wouldn't have… become interested in you. I like you for you even if that means you sometimes go against my morals." He explained in a stuttering and unusually ineloquent manner.

Tony realised it was now his time to make his apologises and explain his actions, "I should have thought it through and considered what it would do to you. I regret not doing that… I'm sorry." His natural instinct had him wanting to make a joke to lighten the mood but he had nearly lost Steve once already so didn't want to risk it again. He had always been criticised for acting like he had no heart and he was ready to prove everyone wrong.

Steve smiled gently, "If you still wanted that drink I have some beers in the fridge."

Tony smiled back. How could he refuse when he still had so much to make up for?

—

-One and a Half Years Later-

Tony flopped down at his desk, the chair wheeling back slightly under the force of his weight, just in time for the start of his shift. As his first day back he wanted to start off on a good footing going forward which he nearly blew by being so close to being late.

Opening up the computer on his desk, he did everything in his power to distract himself from the empty desk which stood cold and dull across the room; they hadn't yet managed to replace Steve as most the applicants hadn't managed to fill the large shoes Steve had left behind him. The flashing of an email icon on his screen drew his eyes away from the desk and back onto his work.

Stark jolted as Clint slapped his hand against the detective's back, "Good to have you back. It wasn't the same without you, man." The comment was only in passing but he could feel Barton's handprint long after the man had left.

He couldn't understand why he was feeling so down as he loved his job, his colleagues and helping the citizens of New York. The other detectives were all at their desks or in the small kitchen area chatting before they got down to work. He could feel Steve's absence and he knew that everyone else could too despite his senses being especially heightened toward the missing detective.

His distraction continued throughout the morning until Captain Fury summoned them all for their regular Monday morning briefing meeting. All the detectives dragged themselves in to the conference room wearily; nobody was exactly upbeat for this Monday morning. Squeals filled the room as the chairs got shuffled around.

"Firstly, I want to welcome back detective Stark." Fury began when he made it to the wooden podium. He rested his large hands against the sides of the tower and leant forward, "We also wish Detective Rogers the best in his further endeavours but I'm sure Stark will keep us up to date with his progress." He nodded in an uncharacteristically soft movement.

Clint burst out from somewhere at the back, "Who'd have thought someone would actually have the ability to tame Stark!" The room vibrated with the chuckling of the crew and Tony couldn't help but smirk. It felt good to be back.

He raised his left hand in the air and flashed the band of metal in the harsh light of the precinct. With a smirk carrying through his tone, he called back to his friend, "I think it works both ways...Nobody thought I'd manage to bag a respectable man like Steve!"

Once again the staff laughed. Tony felt a comfortable warmth settle across his chest at the reminder of his friends here in the office. Even though Steve had moved on things didn't have to change for him. He still had his partner, still had his friends and still had the job he loved. As he lowered his hand the gold band glinted in the light again and he peered down at his hands with a gentle smile. The golden glint contrasting the light brown of his sun darkened fingers.

"Less talk of the newlyweds and more about this week's cases!" Captain Fury snapped over the chatter of the room before moving on with the set tasks and started dishing them out.

—

He struggled to see the keyhole of his apartment in the shadows; he leant to the side to allow the streetlamp to light the keys path into the hole. The darkness of the outside is mirrored inside the building as he has to remind himself that for Steve's first few weeks at his new job he would have to work late in order to catch up with everything the other precinct was in the middle of. Dumping his bag, he entered his home and kicked off his shoes and began to head towards the kitchen before remembering that Steve liked to keep the shoes in line; a remnant of his experience in the armed forces. With the tip of his toes he tapped them gently until they lined up beside Steve's running sneakers.

The sound of glass bottles jingling accompanied the hiss of the opening refrigerator as he reached in to fetch himself a beer. Condensation was cool against his fingertips while he sipped the amber liquid. He moved through to the lounge and dumped himself down onto the couch like a heavy sack of potatoes, beer licking at the rim of the bottle in threat of spilling over. Tony rested his legs up on the seat beside him to allow himself to stretch out and lie back.

He doesn't know when he falls asleep but is jolted awake by the sound of the front door being closed. His mind followed Steve's progression as he listened as the man shucked his jacket, pulled off his shoes and lined them up (and also pushed Tony's further in line) before following the soft light into the living room. Tony felt a familiar warmth spread through his chest at the sight of his husband in his tight white shirt and tie. The white made his honeymoon tanned skin glow brightly.

"Good afternoon, Deputy Rogers." Tony smiled while giving a lazy salute in his partner's general direction.

"Is that anyway to act towards your superior?" The taller man asked with a façade of seriousness.

Tony peered up at him with a smile, he had always been able to read through Steve's attempts at seriousness, "Are you pulling rank on me, Deputy?" He purred seductively.

Steve couldn't help but grin. He stepped over to his husband and grinned down at him until Stark grabbed hold of his tie and tugged gently to bring them closer. Steve followed along, pressing their lips together but he couldn't control his smile.

"You're hard to kiss when you're happy. Be sad, for me… Just one minute of sadness." Tony chuckled as he felt Steve's lips curl up even further.

"Impossible." Rogers muttered against the other man's lips. The taste of beer was still dancing across Tony's lips. He leaned in to deepen the kiss again but Tony's witty mind was interrupting Steve's intention.

"I know, you love me just too much to ever be sad." The words sprang out in an almost musical tone.

Steve scoffed and dropped down on the couch between Tony's legs so he could treat the other man's thighs as an armchair. He rested back against his husband's chest with a sigh. Rolling his eyes, Tony wrapped his arms around his partner's torso and dropped his head down so his chin could rest against Steve's fluffy blond hair.

"How have we come so far?" Steve asked, watching their legs touching and Tony's hands joined around his shoulders.

Two years ago he couldn't even imagine working a case with the disrespectful, rule busting and cheeky Tony Stark but now he couldn't imagine a day without having the man in his life. To say their relationship took them both, and everyone else for that matter, by surprise was an understatement.

Steve sighed, "I love you, Detective Tony Stark." He could feel Tony's confusion at the sudden announcement, Steve was always more open with his feelings than Stark but neither were overly emotional.

He dropped a kiss on Steve's head gently, "I love you too, Deputy Steve Rogers."


End file.
